I cover cardiology news for CardioExchange, a social media website for cardiologists published by the New England Journal of Medicine. I was the editor of TheHeart.Org from its inception in 1999 until December 2008. Following the purchase of TheHeart.Org by WebMD in 2005, I became the editorial director of WebMD professional news, encompassing TheHeart.Org and Medscape Medical News. Prior to joining TheHeart.Org, I was a freelance medical journalist and wrote for a wide variety of medical and computer publications. In 1994-1995 I was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. I have a PhD in English from SUNY Buffalo, and I drove a taxicab in New York City before embarking on a career in medical journalism. You can follow me on Twitter at: @cardiobrief.

Live Blog-- FDA Advisory Panel on Rivaroxaban (Xarelto)

6.1. … what regimen to use in most patients? If not, does this matter?

6.2. … what dose adjustments are needed in patients at extremes of exposure or risk? If not, does this matter?

6.3. … transitioning between rivaroxaban and other anticoagulant therapy? If not, does this matter?

6.4. … actions to take in the event of serious bleeding? If not, does this matter?

4:14– McGuire: “we don’t have to chase the tail of efficacy”–from a practical level you can’t change the comparator every time a new agent comes along. It’s good for patients to have different therapies available.

4:10– Fleming says that if dabigatran is superior to warfarin then that should be the comparator.

4:05– So far no new ground covered with this question.

4:02– Question 5:

5. If you conclude that the policy does apply and that rivaroxaban needs to be “as effective as” something, …

5.1. … what does “as effective” mean operationally?

5.2. … is it sufficient to be “as effective” as warfarin? If so, is it?

5.3. … is it necessary to be “as effective” as something else? If so, …

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